About Cantor Wally & Friends
Cantor Wally Schachet-Briskin is a 1996 graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's School of Sacred Music (HUC-JIR SSM). Since then he has served as the cantor at Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles. He treasures the opportunity to be a faculty member and musician-in-residence each summer for "Hagigah" at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Camp Swig in Northern California along with several extraordinarily talented artists. Wally is active in the Los Angeles Jewish community as a song leader, lecturer, event leader and guest cantor.
Wally has produced and recorded two CD/cassettes of original Jewish compositions which have received critical acclaim -- "Fixin' The World" with Craig Rosen and a solo recording, "Cantor Wally". He composed and performed several songs on "Shir L'Yom Chadash," the URJ Camp Swig/Camp Newman CD, was actively involved in the "Sounds Of Torah" series of recordings and songbooks from Sounds Write Productions, Inc., and has sung and performed on numerous other recordings. When his busy schedule allows, he appears as scholar-in-residence and performs his music, as well as singable Jewish folk tunes, around the country. Wally is a well-known performer and inspirer among the communities at the Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education (CAJE), the American Conference of Cantors (ACC), URJ, and HUC-JIR. You can visit his website at www.CantorWally.com to learn more about bringing him to your community.
His love of sharing music has led Wally to teach the art of song leading to several generations of campers at URJ Camps Swig, Kutz, and Newman, and regionally in Los Angeles. Wally's Masters Project while at HUC-JIR was on the music of Reform Jewish youth, and how to sustain the tradition of the song leader. He continues to explore this subject and lecture on the topic around the country.
Wally feels blessed to share his life with his wife, Tammy, their daughter, Channa Shira, their son, Micah Oren, and family members and close friends living around Southern California.
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